Safety razor and blade



Allg- 1936. s. c. STAMPLEMAN 2,051,656

SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE Filed March 27, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 18, 1936. s. c. STAMPLEMAN SAFETY RAZOR AND BLADE Filed March 27, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w w I Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES SAFETY RAZOR BLADE Samuel C. Stampleman, Gohasset, Mails.I assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass" a corporation of Delaware Application March 27, 1934, Serial No. 717,619

10 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a thin flexible blade is employed between two clamping members which support it upon opposite sides adjacent to its cutting edge.

5 The Gillette" safety razor is an example of this type of razor and in such razors the blade is clamped between cap and guard members shaped to impart a pronounced transverse curvature thereto when clamped in shaving position. The 10 present invention deals with the problem of accurately locating the blade between these members so as to insure its correct edge exposure for shaving and also the problems of preventing breaking of the blade or faulty clamping thereof 15 due to cap corner damage. In practice many razors are encountered having bent or upset cap corners due to having been dropped by the user. The effect of even a slight bending of the cap comer is either to break the blade in clamping it or to .prevent proper clamping engagement of the cap and guard, so that 'a portion of the cutting edge of the blade is left unsupported and thus rendered dangerous to the user.

I have discovered a novel manner of clamping a flexible blade in razors of the type under discussion, which is eflfective not only to secure an accurate and positive location of the blade between the clamping members, but also to eliminate or largely reduce the possibility of blade breakage and improper clamping due to bent cap corners.

In one aspect the present invention consists in an improved blade having transverse slits extending inwardly through its longitudinal edge adjacent to each corner of the blade, thereby providing narrow tongues in the body of the blade which may be deflected without in any way disturbing the remainder of the cutting edge.

These narrow tongues in the assembled razor, 49 are disposed beneath the cap comers, so that if one of the latter becomes damaged it may deflect the corresponding tongue of the blade without affecting the alignment of the intermediate and major portion of the cutting edge.

In addition to this function the flexible tongues of the blade may be utilized for other useful purposes. For example, they may be deflected into interlocking engagement with shoulder-forming recesses in one of the blade-clamp- --,a ing members of the razor and thus hold the blade against displacement in a longitudinal direction,

in a transverse direction, or in both directions at the same time. As herein shown, recesses are provided in the guard member of the razor which 5 provide laterally extending shoulders in each 001'- ner of the guard and by interlocking with these shoulders the flexible tongues positively prevent longitudinal displacement of the blade. When used with such a razor transverse displacement of the blade may be prevented by internally per- 5 forating the blade for edgewise engagement with blade-locating projections of the razor in the usual manner. I have carried the invention one step further, however, and may provide inwardly directed shoulders also in the guard which are engaged by'the ends of the deflected tongues of the blade. Each pair of tongues, therefore, is designed to span the space between such shoulders and positively hold the blade against lateral displacement. In this manner the blade may be accurately held against displacement in both directions by the deflected tongues, independently of any internal aperture which it may have.

'I'he flexible tongues of the blade may be either resilient or softened to an extent that they will take a permanent set when once deflected in use.

In the latter case, the permanently deflected tongues serve to indicate unmistakably that the blade has been used,- and they also give to the blade a contour which adapts it specifically forv use in the razor in which it has been once clamped.

My invention includes within its scope the novel combination of a blade with flexible tongues at its corners with a razor having recesses to receive the tongues when deflected and to cooperate with them in partially or wholly-locating the blade in shaving position in the razor.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an unused blade;

v Fig. 2 is a similar view of a used blade, showing the tongues in a permanently set condition;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of a razor containing the blade of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation on an enlarged scale showing a razor having a damaged cap corner with a blade clamped therein;

Fig. 5 is a viewin perspective of an alternative form of blade in unused condition;

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective'of an alternative form of cap;

Fig. I is a view in perspective of an alternative blade embodying the invention;

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of the guard member of the razor shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of another form of cap with a blade positioned thereupon, showing a portion of the blade broken away;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a guard member designed for use with the cap of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11 is a view in end elevation and on an enlarged scale of a safety razor embodying the parts shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

It will be understood that many forms of blade are embraced within the scope of the present invention and that those herein illustrated are selected for purposes of illustration only. The particular blade I0 shown in Fig. 1 is substantially rectangular in outline. Its longitudinal edges [2 are sharpened for cutting and it is provided with an elongated internal aperture l4 in the shape of a slot having spaced enlargements therein of characteristic design. The endmost enlargements include the end walls of the aperture and these extend substantially parallel to the end edges of the blade and define the flexing hinges of the blade.

As herein shown the corner portions of the blade comprise relatively narrow tongues l6 which are formed by transverse slits extending inwardly through the cutting edges l2 of the blade. The slits may be formed by a die-cutting operation or by actually'removing the material of the blade in narrow slits or slots. The manner of cutting these is of secondary importance so long as the tongues l5 formed thereby are free to be deflected out of the plane of the blade without in any way interfering with the remainder of its cutting edge and so long as they provide blade-locating edges. In the blade shown in Fig. 1, the tongue forming slits are located substantially opposite to or slightly beyond the end walls of the internal aperture M or with a spacing of at least the length of the aperture [4. They do not extend to any substantial degree into those portions of the blade which form the flexing hinges when the blade is transversely flexed in the razor.

The blade shown in Fig. 1 may be conveniently employed in such razors as those illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

The former includes a cap 20 having a concave blade-engaging face and projecting corner lugs 22. It is arranged to co-operate with a guard member 24 having a generally convex bladeengaging face with longitudinally extending channels disposed beneath the cutting edges l2 of the blade. The purpose of the lugs 22 is to reinforce the corners of the cap 20 against the possibility of damage should the user drop the razor or cap in such a manner as to tend to bend one of its corners. The blade of Fig. 1 is located in the razor of Fig. 3 by means of a blade-locating projection in the shape of a rib carried by the cap 20 and shaped to flt the internal aperture ll of the blade but not herein illustrated. When clamped in shaving position the projecting lugs 22 of. the cap engage the tongues Id of the blade and bend them downwardly beyond the contour of the curved blade and into the channel in the guard which is located beneath the cutting edges of the blade. The edge portion of the cap 20 between the projecting lugs 22 is thus safeguarded and may be relied upon to bear evenly and firmly upon the cutting edge of the blade throughout its entire length between the limiting slits of the tongues l6. This important portion of the blade is thereby guarded against disturbance of any kind and a correct degree of edge exposure is insured.

In Fig. 4 is shown a razor having a cap 30 which has no projecting lugs at its comers but which is represented as having-one comer 32 damaged, the comer being bent toward the guard 24. Under these circumstances, the damaged cap corner 32 deflects the flexibletongue l6 of the blade downwardly into the channel'of the guard leaving the remainder of the blade undisturbed and accurately positioned in shaving position. It will be observed that under these conditions the bent cap corner 32 in no way interferes with the proper clamping engagement of the blade by the cap and guard members of the razor.

An alternative tom of blade 40 is shown in Fig. 5. This is similar to the blade of Fig. 1, having sharpened edges 42, an internal bladelocating aperture 44 and tongues 46 at its corners which are defined by transverse slits terminating in the small perforations 48 provided in the body of the blade for that purpose.

Thus far the tongues of the blade have been discussed only in respect to their function in safeguarding the blade against being broken by a damaged cap corner or subjected to improper clamping engagement by the cap and guard. The tongues, however, may be utilized for the further function of locating the blade in the razor and this aspect of the invention will now be considered. The blade 50 shown in Fig. 7 is sharpened at its opposite edges 52 for cutting and provided with a central opening 54 for the passage of the stem of the cap, not for purposes of locating the blade. The blade is also provided with narrow tongues 56 at each of its corners which are defined, in this case, by transverse slots 58 extending inwardly from the cutting edges 52 of the blade approximately one-third of the blade width.

The blade 50 may be advantageously employed with a safety razor comprising the cap 60 of Fig. 6 and the guard 10 of Fig. 8. The cap 60 is provided with a concave blade-engaging face and with parallel edges 62 which engage the upper face of the blade and flex the blade upon the face of the guard. The cap is provided at each corner with a. projecting lug 64 and at the center of its blade-engaging face is a threaded projecting stem 65 which is arranged to co-operate with the handle of the razor in clamping the cap and guard together upon the blade.

The guard Ill shown in Fig. 8 is provided with a generally convex blade-engaging face. It has a central opening 12 for the passage of the stem 66 of the cap with clearance and parallel longitudinally-extending fulcrum shoulders 14, adjacent to each of which is a longitudinal channel 16 extending continuously from one end to the other of the guard and bounded at its outer edge by the usual guard teeth. At each end the guard is provided with a pair of shallow curved recesses 61 forming transversely extending shoulders 68 at which the fulcrum shoulders 14 terminate. The outer wall of each recess 61 is formed by a projecting shoulder 69 extending upwardly from the endmost guard tooth at each corner of the guard member and being arranged opposite to each other in spaced relation across the guard.

When the blade 50 of Fig. 7 is clamped between the cap 60 and guard 10 the corner lugs 64 of the cap engage the flexible tongues 56 of the blade and bend them downwardly beyond the curvature of the body of the blade and into the recesses 61 of the guard. In this position the inner edges. of the bent tongues 56 engage the a transverse shoulders 68 of the recesses 61, thus becoming interlocked with the guard and positively prevent longitudinal shifting of the blade. Similarly the outer ends of the tongues 56 exactly span the space between the opposed, inwardly directed shoulders 69, as suggested in Fig. 11 and by engaging these shoulders the blade is firmly and positively held against transverse shifting in the razor. Meanwhile the threaded stud 66 passes freely through the hole 54 of the blade and the opening I! of the guard, so that neither of these members are in any way located or prevented from moving by the stud 66. The blade 50 is, therefore, completely located and held against movement in two directions at right angles to each other by the interlocking engagement of the sides and ends of the tongues with the shoulders of the recesses 58.

In Figs. 9 and 10 are shown the cap and guard of a safety razor in which a blade is positioned by its deflected tongues only against displacement in a longitudinal sense, while it is positioned transversely by the engagement of an internal aperture in the form of a slot with a corresponding rib on the cap. In this case the blade I50, sharpened at its edges I52, is provided with tongues I56 defined by slots I58 and a longitudinal slot I54. The tongues are unsharpened at their ends and terminate short of the blade edge. The cap has blade-flexing edges 82, reinforcing corner lugs 84, a threaded central stem 86 and a longitudinally extending rib 88. The corresponding guard 90 has a central opening 92 for the reception of the stem 86, fulcrum shoulders 94 defined by longitudinal channels .96 and end recesses 91 forming transverse shoulders 98. It has also a longitudinal slot 93 for the reception of the rib 88 of the cap.

When this razor is assembled with the blade I50, the tongues I56 are deflected by the lugs 84 into the recesses 91 and make edge engagement with the shoulders 98 thus positively locking the blade against longitudinal displacement. The slot I54, being longer than the rib 88 of the cap leaves the blade free for endwise movement except as limited by the tongues.

In the blade I50, as in the other blades described, the tongues may be resilient so that they spring back into the plane'of the blade after they have been deflected for their blade locating function, or they may be softened to an extent that a; permanent set is imparted to them when they have been once clamped in shaving position. In the latter case the tongues have the additional function of indicating use of the blade while in the former case the complete blade-locating function is eifected by a temporary displacement of the tongues. Having thus described by invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:--

1. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard member provided with a channeled bladesupporting face having blade-locating shoulders therein, a flexible double edged blade having at each corner a flexible tongue, and a cap shaped to engage said tongues when the razor is clamped for shaving and deflect them into the channel of the guard and into engagement with said bladelocating shoulders.

2. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard member provided with a transverse shoulder adjacent to each corner, a cap having corners arranged in cooperative relation to said shoulders, and a flexible blade having defined viding transverse shoulders adjacent to each end,

a cap having corners arranged in cooperative relation to said shoulders and a blade-locating projection, 'and a flexible bl'ade slotted to engage the blade-locating projection of the cap and to be held thereby againsttransverse displacement and having flexible tongues at its corners beyond the ends of its cutting edge and adapted to be deflected into'said recesses to engage said shoulders and thereby be held against longitudinal displacement.

4. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard having recesses providing transverse and longitudinal shoulders, a blade having flexible tongues at its corners, and a cap shaped to deflect said tongues into said recesses, therebylocking the blade against both longitudinal and transverse displacement on the guard.

5. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard having recesses adjacent to each corner providing outwardly directed transverse shoulders and inwardly directed shoulders, a blade having flexible tongues at its corners of a length to span the guard between said inwardly directed shoulders, and a cap shaped to deflect the tongues to engage them with both sets of shoulders.

6. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard provided with recesses adjacent to its corners presenting flat-faced, blade-locating shoulders facing each other at opposite sides of the guard, a co-operating cap, and a blade having a pair of oppositely directed flexible tongues at each end adapted to be deflected by the cap corners and of such length as to span the space between said shoulders.

'7. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard member provided with a longitudinal channel bounded by spaced shoulders, a flexible blade having a cutting edge portion terminated at each end by a transverse slit forming flexible tongue spaced from the cutting edge and terminating within the line of the cutting edge, said flexible tongues being spaced to correspond to the shoulders of the guard, and a cap provided in eachof its corners with a projection so located as to deflect the tongues of the blade into said channel when the blade is clamped for shaving to establish an interlocking relation between the guard and blade.

8. A safety razor having, in combination, a guard member provided with a longitudinal fulcrurn shoulder and a continuous channel adjacent thereto, the fulcrum shoulder being terminated by recesses lying within the ends of the guard member, a cap having a blade-flexing edge disposed opposite to said channel, and a thin flexible blade having a cutting edge extending for the full length of the blade-flexing edge of the cap and provided at its comers with narrow flexible tongues located opposite to the recesses of the guard and arranged to underlie the cap corners whereby they may be deflected into the recesses by the cap corners.

9. A safety razor comprising a guard having a blade-supporting face and inwardly directed shoulders in each comer disposed below the plane of said blade-supporting face, a blade having 10. A safety razor comprising a guard member having blade-supporting portions, a co-operating cap member, and a blade having flexible tongues at each corner, one of said members having inwardly directed shoulders so located as to be engaged by the ends of said tongues when deflected out of the body of the blade.

SAMUEL C. STAMPLEMAN. 

